The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea plant, botanically known as Hydrangea paniculata, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Bela.
The new Hydrangea is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Bilderbeck, Germany. The objective of the breeding program was to create new stonger-growing Hydrangeas with attractive flower bract coloration and no vernalization requirement.
The new Hydrangea originated from a cross-pollination on Jul. 18, 1991 of a proprietary selection of Hydrangea paniculata identified as code number 91015, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Hydrangea paniculata identified as code number 91125-13, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Bela was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Bilderbeck, Germany on Jul. 29, 1993.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by vegetative cuttings at Bilderbeck, Germany, since Aug. 1, 1993, has shown that the unique features of this new Hydrangea are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.